Provided first to The Hill, the report from the left-leaning advocacy group uses Kennedy’s own words and news stories about the Trump pick to paint a picture of a man they say is a “threat to public health.”
Kennedy has a long history of vaccine skepticism, including spreading the false and discredited claim that the measles, mumps and rubella shot can cause autism.
If he’s confirmed as Health and Human Services secretary, Kennedy would oversee the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration, the agencies in charge of reviewing and approving new vaccines and recommending which shots people should get.
The report calls Kennedy a leading vaccine skeptic and says he has no qualifying experience to run the federal health department.
"Kennedy does have a long and well-documented history of erratic and bizarre behavior that may have been in part caused by parasitic brain worms and mercury poisoning,” the report states.
The document highlights Kennedy's pledge to pause infectious disease research and redirect funding away from epidemiology and toward chronic diseases.
Protect Our Care has been a leading voice among Democratic circles to fight against GOP-led cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. The organization recently turned its attention to Kennedy.
“People will lose their lives with RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary,” the group’s executive director Brad Woodhouse said in a statement. “Make no mistake: RFK Jr. is a MAGA loyalist who has no problem being Trump’s puppet. Kennedy’s long history of espousing misinformation has had deadly consequences, and in a position like HHS secretary, the damage would be insurmountable.”
